A tunnelling drill that works horizontally, as opposed to digging in a downward trajectory. Scientists would dig a much narrower hole to Earth's mantle.

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A team of British-led researchers plan to drill down to the Earth's mantle and bring back samples, the Daily Mail reports.

The feat would involve tunneling through five miles of solid rock on the sea bed in temperatures as high as 298 Celsius. Once there, the pressure on the equipment would be four million pounds per square inch -- 285,000 times that of normal gravity.

The scientists hope to get the samples back to the surface so more can be learned about the origins of the planet. （点击《每日邮报》查看原文）

科学家欲“钻”地5英里

       据英国《每日邮报》报道，以英国科学家为首的研究团队将要“钻入”地幔并带回样品。

       要完成这项壮举，他们得从海床向下，穿过坚硬的岩石，“钻出”一条5英里长的隧道，作业温度最高可达298摄氏度。一旦到达目的地，设备所承受的压力将达到每平方英寸4百万磅，是正常向心力的285000倍。

       科学家们希望能够采集样品并带回地表，从而更深入地了解地球的起源。